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The Llano County Scottish Rite Club will join the San Saba Scottish Rite Club for its quarterly stated meeting on Thursday, September 9th at the San Saba Masonic Lodge Hall. This will be the first ever joint meeting with membership of both clubs. A special invitation by letter has also been made to include all Scottish Rite Masons at large in the adjoining counties who are not members of the clubs, but who are in good standing and to attend this gathering. A meal of barbecue brisket, chicken, potatoes and beans will be served at 6:30 PM. Families and guests are invited. Members are asked to bring a covered side dish, bread, salad or dessert.

After the evening meal a special program will be presented by quest speaker Ben E. Ryon, 33º, of the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies. All Scottish Rite Masons and their guests are invited for the program. The lecture will be about the history and development of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Texas.

Ben Ryon, 33º is a 4th generation Texan. The family hails from North Texas. Ben’s father was a football coach and his mother a third grade schoolteacher. He graduated from McCallum High School in Austin, attended Baylor University on an athletic scholarship and was on the Dean’s honor roll at Baylor. He graduated a BBA in Accounting with Honors from The University of Texas at Austin. His scholastic Honorary Academic Affiliations are Beta Alpha Psi and Beta Gamma Sigma, which are for honors graduates from the UT School of Accounting and the UT School of Business.

Brother Ben Ryon is a Certified Public Accountant and he is a current member, of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Member of Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, and member of Austin Chapter of TSCPA. Ben’s career experience began with Wade, Barton & Marsh, CPAs in Austin (which through subsequent mergers is now KPMG Peat Marwick.) Ben has been in public accounting for 42 years, and 37 of those years as a partner in the firm. The firm has offices in Austin and Georgetown, Texas. Beginning January 2008, Ben is Partner Emeritus and continues his involvement as a consultant to Faske Lay & Co. and to its clients.

Ben’s Masonic affiliations are; 33° Scottish Rite Mason, York Rite Mason, Order of Knight Masons, Royal Order of Scotland, Hill City Masonic Lodge No. 456 of Austin and the Texas Lodge of Research. Ben is also an officer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Scottish Rite Learning Center of Austin. He is an advisor to the Austin Scottish Rite Children’s and Community Theater and the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies.

In attendance will also be the General Secretary of the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies Paul Bullock, 32º K.K.C.H. Brother Bullock will present a small report on state of Scottish Rite of the Austin Valley and the Master Craftsman program, which the San Saba Club (chartered 1982) converted from a "learn as you go" correspondence course to a group class. The course also includes a class in basic Scottish Rite education and knowledge.

As a result of the San Saba efforts, the program has spread to other clubs in the valley and is currently being duplicated and taught with great success for the Llano County Scottish Rite Club (chartered in 1978), which meets at Kingsland Masonic Lodge. The program is expanding into the entire Scottish Rite Valley, which consists of Austin proper, 16 counties and seven clubs. Members of the Llano Club taking the course are; Henry Ivey Parker, 33º, Ronny Glynn Bowman, 32 º, Walter William McLeod, 32 º, Robert Milton Spicher, 32 º, and Edward Doss Jones, Jr., 32 º of San Saba.

For more information about the Scottish Rite go to the their website at: www.scottishrite.org/ or call Henry Parker at: 512-793-2880, 512-793-6181, 254-423-0086.